Afrikaners See Trump as the Ally Who ‘Heard Our Cries'
From the moment she learned of President Trump's executive order allowing white South Africans to live in the United States as refugees, Zenia Pretorius knew she wanted to go.
She and her husband no longer felt safe in the country because of their race, she said. Then, last week's Oval Office meeting between Mr. Trump and President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa strengthened her desire to move.
During the meeting, Mr. Trump insisted that Afrikaners — the white minority who once ran the country's brutal apartheid system — were having their farmland seized and being targeted in mass murders. When Mr. Ramaphosa attempted to correct him, Mr. Trump presented video footage and news articles that he incorrectly said were proof.
'It was heartwarming to see that he is taking this seriously,' said Ms. Pretorius, who alleges she and her husband were forced to leave their farm after being threatened and harassed by Black settlers.
Violent crime is widespread in South Africa, but police statistics show that Afrikaners are no more likely to be victims of a crime than anyone else. Yet Mr. Trump's program is open only to Afrikaners and other racial minorities in the country — everyone except Black South Africans.
At a time when most refugees around the world are unable to gain entry into the United States, the Trump administration has made a specific exemption for white South Africans. The first 59 Afrikaners arrived in May. Thousands more are now seeking tips on how to convince the U.S. government that they deserve refugee status, too.
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